


Commitment

by SilvertonguedClotpole



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Don't copy to another site, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Prostitution, Mental Institutions, Mentions of Vomitting, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-17 10:30:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18963460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilvertonguedClotpole/pseuds/SilvertonguedClotpole
Summary: Commitment:-1) the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc. A pledge or undertaking. 2) The process of officially sending someone to a prison or to hospital.The Hargreeves siblings jumped to safety right before the Apocalypse hit, only to find themselves back in their own timelines and separated. Finding 5 out of 7 siblings is rather easy. Another is living life as a ghost and the final one...he needs finding. Turns out, Klaus is somewhere the siblings won't forget in a hurry.





	1. Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Please note, the following points will sound familiar and droning:  
> I'm not happy with this, I could discuss why for a while (it doesn't always flow perfectly, I know that) but I had the idea in my head for a while and it kind of came out in one day so I decided to go with it and damn my feelings because someone may find pleasure from it. I've set this around 4 years before the first episode and tried to figure out everyone's timelines but I'm also just going to add 'Canon Divergence' and 'artistic licensing' to be sure. There is mentions of prostitution and drugs and vomit in this- which I know some like to know about. I've read through this rather a lot but PLEASE let me know if you think I should add anymore tags because my mind's just glossing over what I need to tag now. I'll shut up, no beta all mistakes mine, all rights to the owners of TUA, blah blah. Hope you enjoy.

When they 'touched down', it wasn't entirely as they had expected. But it also wasn't as bad as _could_ have been expected! They had been separated again, jumped back only around 4 years and deposited in the exact locations they had been at the time.

Luther had been just days since waking up to his new body and a week until he relocated to the moon. Diego had been looking for jobs, knowing his time at the police academy was coming to an end. Allison had been sat in her house with Claire in her arms and Patrick due back from a business trip. Klaus had been missing and high. Five had found himself back- ahead?- fresh out of the apocalypse wasteland and working under The Handler. Ben had been dead and wherever Klaus was. And Vanya had been hold up in her apartment waiting for an audition call that would never come.

Five made the first move. He had jumped prematurely and found himself in Vanya's apartment. It had taken him a few minutes to try and not panic about changes he had just made by returning to his timeline so early, how all the kills he hadn't made may have such consequential changes to the world. It was only a pale and terrified Vanya stood before him that had brought him down to earth.

_"I...I'm a monster."_

_"No. No Vanya you're not." He had taken a step toward her, moving to take the violin from her trembling hands until she flinched away._

_"No. I don't want to hurt you."_

_"You won't." Mainly because of the fact she still had the drugs in her system, but he didn't elaborate._

Once they had settled down with coffee and a touch of whisky they had rang Allison.

_"Oh thank god Vanya. I was so worried. What the hell has happened...Five's with you!? How!? Ok not important. What do we do!? We need to regroup, but I don't know where everyone is and...Dad's still alive. How do we play this if he's still alive...."_

_Five had sighed, wishing the phone hadn't been on loudspeaker. "For the love of...Allison calm down and slow down. It's fine. Just relax. Who's numbers do you have?"_

_"I have Luther's, well, the Academy's. And I have_ a _number for Diego, whether it's a working one or not I have no idea. And Klaus..." Her voice wavered. "...I had nothing to do with him for years."_

_"Ok. We can't risk Dad getting suspicious, but ring Luther, if Pogo answers just get him to get Luther to ring you back, tell him to come here- he knows where you live right? What? Shit, ok- give him Vanya's address and tell him to come here- shit, as long as you're ok with that Vanya?- ok, yes, get him to come here. Give me the number for Diego, if it's a dud I'll just go to the station and see if anyone has contacts for him. As for Klaus...we'll see what Diego knows."_

And that's what they had done. Luther had managed to answer the phone before Pogo and had arranged the meeting at Vanya's- luckily Reginald had been away on business anyway and seemingly not a bother for them. Diego hadn't answered the old number but a kind Officer Patch had contacted him when Vanya had shown up and explained there was a situation. Allison was on her way over, luckily having been able to leave Claire (very reluctantly she might add) with Patrick once he got home. 

It was roughly 5 hours since they had returned. Since Vanya had almost destroyed the world, and wasn't that mind-blowing? To think that 5 hours ago the moon had been heading toward them but in reality it wasn't 5 hours ago it was years in the future and yet here they all were again, together (almost) and with the knowledge of what will happen and knowing they could change it but also knowing that if they changed too much it could be absolute chaos!?!?

"Five. You really need to lay off the coffee!"

Whatever Five had been about to say was cut off with a knock on the door. It opened with a squeak and Allison bounded across to take Vanya in her arms. The smaller of the two couldn't take her eyes off her sister's neck, a neck that now had absolutely no trace of the injury she had inflicted. They cried and hugged and comforted one another.

"I hate to cut this short but we're still down two siblings." Diego said from his perch near the kitchen.

Allison pulled away from the hug but kept contact with Vanya as they sat together on the couch. "You're right." She looked to Number Two. "Do you have any idea where Klaus is at this point?"

"Not one bit." He flipped a knife- a tick of his that indicated he was nervous, annoyed, bored or pretty much any mood under the sun. "I've attended call outs that involved him, I've seen his ass get dragged into a police car or into a holding cell. I've caught him in back alleys and given him a 2 minute head start before back up arrived, and once I had to..." He paused and swallowed, reigning in some emotion. "...Once I had to call an ambulance for him. But in these few months after I left training I had no idea where he was. I was so focused on finding a job and a home that I didn't even think about him."

"But he had to live somewhere. What about the forms you fill in when he's taken in? You have to include his address and stuff right?"

Diego scoffed toward Luther, shaking his head. "You have absolutely _no_ idea do you?!" His deep eyes flicked around the room before landing back on Luther. "He was homeless. There _was_ no address to fill in. He's a vagrant. He sleeps with other druggies, in alleys, in shop doorways. He camps out in dumpsters the day after they're emptied and only moves on when he's blanketed by bags of garbage. I don't know where to find him because, ha, excuse the pun, he's a ghost!"

Silence. All siblings sat in stunned silence. It wasn't exactly a surprise, because deep down they all felt that they knew this, how stupid and ignorant could they be not to! But to hear it said out loud was something different. Their brother had spent what was probably around 12 years (from him leaving the house after Ben's death and leading up to their future reunion with their Father's death) living homeless and poor on the streets, constantly high or drunk. The sadness quickly turned to anger for some though, with Allison being the one to speak up.

"And you left him to it."

"What!"

"You knew! You were aware of how bad it was and you just, you left him. You could have taken him in, you could have gotten him help but you just let him get on with ruining his life."

"Woah woah woah!" Diego got up and almost stalked toward them, anger and sadness mixed on his features. "I tried. Ok. Which is more than any of you did. I tried to get him a home, I even snuck him into Eudora's flat once or twice when I stayed over. I used half my wages on hotel rooms for him only to find out he had flaked out and wasn't using them. I was the one to take him to a rehab facility a few years back and he _hated_ me for it. One time I even made him stay in the holding cell for a night extra so he wouldn't die out in one of the coldest nights we had. I seem to remember calling _you_ Allison, telling you that our brother was really struggling and wouldn't listen to me and you said you couldn't deal with him. And I told Luther, I told him to somehow get him into the Academy just so he had a bed and warm food but the next night I found him in an empty warehouse too weak to even sit up because he hadn't eaten in 3 days. Do not put blame on me. I tried. And I'm not blaming you because I know you have your lives and Klaus is just Klaus and lives how he wants to and there's fuck all we can do about that but at least I tried."

"When did you stop?" Five's cold voice cut in. "Don't make yourself a saint because I've watched you all since returning, I've observed more than you know and I know that somewhere that care broke down. You were just as shocked to see Klaus as everyone else. He's been to prison, you didn't mention that, so that must have happened sometime since you _failed_ the police force and..." Five had to dodge a knife- that in reality wouldn't have hit him anyway because however angry Diego got with his siblings, he would never really harm them more than an odd scratch or graze.

The two faced off for a minute, staring at one another and challenging the other to make a move.

"For god's sake. This isn't helping anyone, particularly not Klaus. Can we all just agree that we've each failed one another, that we're all screw ups but this time we have a chance to change that!?" They were all taken aback when Vanya stood up and spoke in a voice none of them had ever heard before. She was brave and confident and domineering, she commanded their attention and got it.

Luther soon filled the void. "Ok. We make plans. What if we look in hotpots. If Diego knows a few favourite areas then we can start there, maybe even ask your friends at the station? See if he's been picked up recently."

"Yeah. Yeah we'll do that. I'll text Eudora, if she'll speak to me, and we can go from there."

* * *

 

"Yeah, yeah thanks Eudora...sorry, Patch." Diego sighed as he ended the call. "She hasn't seen him in a while and his file hasn't been updated. They broke up a drug den a few weeks ago and a lot of the junkies have been known to be friendly with Klaus in the past but he wasn't among them."

"So where do we go from here. All of the place we've looked so far have come up with nothing too." Vanya held a list in her hand which now consisted of 10 locations, all with huge red crosses through them. They had split up in order to comb as much of the city as they could but regrouped when all possible dives had been swept.

"I know one of the guys from this bust Patch mentioned, he actually has a home. It's a long shot but we've just got to go with anything right now. You don't have to come, it's...not pleasant."

Allison and Five chimed up together. "Oh we're coming."  

And so they drove a few blocks to find themselves in front of a dingy looking block of flats right at the back of one of the worst alleys in the area. The only thing visible on the outside was one red light above a door.

"Is this..." Vanya's voice was a mere whisper.

Diego sighed, resigning himself to what they were about to walk into. "Yup. I've found Klaus in here before, he had some deal with the owner, think he used to sell drugs or 'VIP' tickets for a few nights on a bed."

"Did he..."

"I don't know."

Diego's voice was quiet and despondent and nobody pressed the subject further. It was a known path that some addicts followed, finding themselves on hard times and having to do certain things in return for cash, or in order to survive. They didn't know if Klaus was one of those.

They reluctantly went inside and were quickly assaulted by the overpowering smell of perfume and smoke. They could hear moans and yelps and laughter and watched as eyes fell on them the moment they stepped in. However much incense wafted in the air or however much red and pink paint they splashed over the black mould patches, it couldn't hide the fact that this was one of the most disgusting dives imaginable. You wouldn't walk out clean, sexually or physically.

"Don't I know you?" A girl sauntered over to Diego, her eyelashes fluttering and her chest jutting out.

Luther snickered despite the situation, earning multiple glares his way.

The girl grew closer to Diego, her groin beginning to rub against his thigh. "Aleisha. I don't think Klaus will like the fact you're hitting on his brother." A man walked from a backroom winking at the woman and nodding toward the group. "Detective."

The girl, Aleisha, jumped back and straightened her 'clothes'. "Oh I'm so sorry Diego. It's been a while and, my you've bulked out a bit haven't you."

"I thought you'd gotten out of here Aliesha! Last I saw you you were serving coffee on the corner of Brook Avenue."

"Yeah well. Things change." And with that she left, but she wasn't angry, just sad.

"Touchy subject Detective. Her ex came back, found her at the cafe and, well. Safest place for her here. The bitch can't touch her with us around."  Now that the man was in better light his features were better to see. He was probably around the 50 mark, with eyes that were warm and a kind smile all on a round, friendly face and if it weren't for the location, it could be said he genuinely cared for his 'workers'.

"Bob. I'm not a detective anymore, never really was. Just Diego." It seemed that this Bob wanted to get into a conversation but the 'almost a cop' jumped in before he had the chance. "Look, I'm here about Klaus. How recently did you see him?"

"Ah, our little Klaus. God he's been having it rough these last few months. Only a few weeks ago I almost called you even though he begged me not to bother. But I heard on the grapevine he was picked up last week. Some alley a couple of streets over. If not an overdose he was close to it. I saw all the blues fly past and got one of my off duty guys to have a look. I knew it was him the moment they mentioned a handsome lanky kid. Got taken over to Kingdom Memorial."

"Shit."

"Yeah shit. He'd only just gotten out of hospital too, had some dodgy drugs and collapsed here. Last thing he said to me was not to take him to the hospital. But what was I to do? He's barely spoken to me since, only when he came in absolutely ratlegged and screaming about him losing Ben again."

Most of the group wanted to either scream through their tears or throw up from the shock of it all. They had absolutely no idea. Klaus could have died 10 times over and they had just ignored it.

"So Kingdom Memorial. Yeah, thanks Bob." Knowing that a simple thanks wouldn't do, Diego handed over $20 and took a handful of 'business cards' off the desk. He wouldn't distribute them, simply bin them, but it would placate Bob to think he may leave them somewhere to be picked up.

"No problem. But like I said, that was last week. If he's not there now- which we both know he won't be- then I have no idea. I still have ya number though so the first time I see him I'll reach ya. Seems important if you're all here....who's the kid?"

"Yeah, brilliant, thanks Bob." Diego ushered them all out onto the street before things could get more awkward. "Shit shit shit."

They silently made their way to the car and sped off to the nearby hospital. They all sat in quiet contemplation about just how much they had neglected about Klaus' life- regardless of their opinions about why he had chosen this path, they couldn't ignore that he had it far worse than they'd ever thought. A few thoughts strayed toward this 'Bob' and his closeness to Klaus and how much he knew about them, but maybe that conversation was for another day.

The doors to the hospital hummed open upon their approach as they robotically made their way to the front desk. Five had jumped off a minute prior to who knew where and left the other's to deal with smiley Becky on reception.

"Hi there." Surprisingly it was Luther who took the reigns. "We're looking for our brother. We have reason to believe he was brought in about a week ago."

After a moment of her staring dumbfounded at Luther's chest, she blinked and returned her gaze to the computer before her. "Of course, what name is it please."

"Klaus Hargreeves."

Becky tapped away for a little while before shaking her head. "I'm sorry. There's no Klaus Hargreeves on file."

Diego came forward but didn't shove Luther out of the way. "Sometimes he uses Klaus Ben? Or Klaus Chambers."

Luther gave him a puzzled look. "Chambers?"

"Not a clue big guy."

"No, I'm sorry. Nothing with those names either."

Numbers One and Two sighed. "Look, I'm sure there's not a whole lot of Klaus' about. We can give you a description and what he was admitted with?"

"I'm sorry. Unless stated on records that family is to be contacted, we can't allow any information anyway and given the lack of details on my system it indicates to me that you wouldn't be given access. I'm sorry but it's what I'm told to do."

Diego looked back at Allison, about to ask her to rumour the young lady when a door behind them opened and Five's voice called out, "Hey!"

By this point Becky had been distracted by a new patient and didn't notice them slip past her into the corridor. The door that Five held open read 'Security' on it and inside sat a man unconscious on a swivel chair.

"What did you do?!" Vanya whispered as they all crammed into the small space.

Five sighed, an exaggerated sound as if they shouldn't be shocked by now at things that happened around them.  "I knocked him out."

Before anyone else could argue though he pointed to one of the screens. "I was scanning this weeks CCTV footage, I saw them bring Klaus in and place him in a room not far from here. So I fast forwarded the following days to see if he was released or moved and I found this."

At that, his voice seemed to go quiet, the last few words breaking off and being a rare sign of emotional distress from the young Hargreeves. He took a moment before adding. "It's not pretty."

The image on the screen flickered before them as he pressed play. At first there was a corridor with the usual activity of a hospital, doctors and nurses walking to and fro, the odd patient being wheeled somewhere and visitors drying their tears as they left. Less than a minute into the clip a door opened and a doctor walked out with a clipboard, handing it over to another man in a suit who was flanked by 3 burly men in whites. The 3 men walked into the room the doctor had just left and exited again a mere 15 seconds later with a person in their grasps. The person wasn't going easily and the audio kicked in to blare out the screams and yells that accompanied the scene. It was clearly Klaus. He looked terrible, his bony body hidden under the hospital gown and yet still somehow conveying just how skinny he had become. His hair was matted to his head with sweat which could be seen shining over every visible patch of skin even on the poor camera feed. He was pale, with huge dark rings around his eyes this time not from his smudged makeup. It was obvious he was sick and weak, with his head lolling to the side and back as the men manhandled him but regardless of such weakness he still fought. With his legs kicking out and momentum tossing his body about, trying to force himself out of their grip. The sounds were the worse part though and seemed to plummet the room's temperature right down.

_"No. NO PLEASE NO. You can't take me. I won't go. NO PLEASE. I CAN'T GO."_  
  
There was crying mixed in and his voice broke between sobs. The agony in the cries was heartbreaking and desperate.

_"Call my brother. Call my sister or even my Dad. God please. Please don't make me go. NO. NO. Ben help. BEN. PLEASE NO..."  
_ __  
Whatever else he was going to say broke off into full blown sobs, his voice getting lost in panicked breathing and any fight leaving him. You could almost see the last reserves of energy seep out of him as his body crumbled in the men's grip. People were watching as he was taken through the corridor and the camera flipped to one in reception which showed Becky sat behind her desk with her hands in front of her mouth. Klaus then managed to headbutt one of the nurses who held him and momentarily made a break for it- Diego maybe smiled a little with pride at that- but the larger man quickly recovered and grabbed at Klaus' wrist, looking as if one wrong move could simply snap it in half in his hand. The image showed more resistance and yelling, nowhere near as strong as before but a fight none-the-less. Their brother kicked out and shouted for Ben again but stupidly backed himself onto the desk as the 3 nurses surrounded him. At the moment the one Klaus had headbutted took out a needle from his pocket Diego had to look away. The point went straight into Klaus' neck and within seconds he collapsed into their arms. The siblings then watched as they dragged him from the hospital and out of sight.

There was a moment where the screens just carried on rolling, relaying the sounds of beeps and alarms and quiet chatter from those left to get on as they did every other day. But the Hargreeves' just stood in silence. Right up until Luther slammed his hands on the table in front of him, breaking it in half and sending papers, phones and a half eaten sub sandwich to the floor.

Diego was the quickest to recover, maybe a part of his police training kicking in. "Can you see any names where they may have taken him? Any badges or logos?"

Five shook his head as he returned the screens to the current shots. "Nothing."

With that, Allison threw the door open and stormed off down the hallway. As the others followed they saw her approach the reception and lean over until she was inches from Becky's face.

"I heard a rumour you told us where they took Klaus Hargreeves."

The young receptionist nodded and typed away on her computer one more time before the printer whirled to life. (So they did know who Klaus Hargreeves was! Obviously some cover up had been implemented along the way.) She took the page from the tray and handed it over.

"Highfield Institute. About an hour from here."

Allison snatched away the information and exited the hospital, quickly followed by her siblings.

Once out in the open, the fresh air forced the final grief to come pouring out and Luther only just caught her in time before her knees smashed onto the floor. She wept into his arms as he smoothed her hair. Looking back up toward Diego he asked. "You know where that is?"

"Near abouts yeah. I know the general direction, signs will help the rest of the way."

In Luther's arms, Allison sobered up, wiping away tears and straightening her hair and clothes as she stood up again. "Then let's get moving."

The group moved once again to the car, filing into the seats without any of the usual childish complaints or calls for shotgun. Five took the sheet from Allison who had crumpled it in her grip.

Not 30 seconds into the drive a low growl rumbled in his throat.

"What? Five what is it?" Vanya sat forward from the back seat so she could see over his shoulder but the 'younger' sibling hid the sheet from her prying eyes. "Tell us."

"That bastard." Suddenly he lashed out and hit the dashboard in front of him (clearly the airbags were screwed, that was good to know). "That BASTARD!"

"Five, what the fuck?!" Diego tried to calm his brother down and keep his eyes on the road, seeing a pull in up ahead should he need to use it.

"Hargreeves. It was Hargreeves who committed him. They contacted him and he told them to commit Klaus. He didn't even visit him or try to help he just signed him off so he was someone else's problem."

Diego was the next to growl. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Get in line." Five may have said it, but the remaining siblings all nodded and hummed from the back seats.

* * *

 

Highfield Institute wasn't far off what you would describe as a 'stereotypical' institute. It may not be quite like the horror movie styles with its half abandoned wards and asbestos lines walls with wheelchairs and soiled beds lying empty in the corridors but it wasn't far off. It needed an entirely new coat of paint, inside and out, and new carpets that didn't look like years of blood and excrement had seeped deep into the shag. And what windows were left were falling to pieces behind the rusted steel bars, with others entirely boarded up. The reception alone sent shivers down the spines of the 5 people who walked up to reception.

"We're here for Klaus Hargreeves." No bullshit. Not this time. Luther loomed over the man behind the desk.

"I'm afraid I can't..."

"Cut the shit. He's here against his will and we're here to take him away."

"I'm sorry sir but whether he is here against his will or not does not matter, if he has been committed and signed in by a guardian or family member then here he will stay until his time is over." The man was called Frank and clearly was used to all sorts of people walking in and out of his reception, he didn't even flinch when this new group argued with him.

Allison didn't waste a second. She pushed past Luther and locked eyes with Frank. "I heard a rumour that you took us to Klaus right now, no funny business, no alerting guards."

Frank nodded and got up, grabbing the keys attached to his belt and taking them down a rabbit warren of corridors. He unlocked multiple doors and took them into what seemed like the lower half of the building. It was even darker down here and this was getting more and more like those horror movie sets. The white walls were either covered in cobwebs and dirt or years of dried blood, the terrifying colours of black, grey and metallic brown alternating in patterns like some sick wallpaper. The tiled floors were cracked and covered in the same colours and the lights above hung from their wires and flickered and hummed. There was no heating and Vanya breathed out to find her breath ghosting white in front of her.

They reached one final door, completely alone toward the back of the building. Frank unlocked a padlock and keyed in a code to an electronic system. His eyes were glazed over as his actions played out against his will.

The moment the door opened they filed in, with Allison whispering one final rumour. "...that you fell asleep."

Behind them, the body of Frank hit the floor and the keys jangled against the wrecked tiles, but the siblings didn't mind, for their attention was directly on the single bed in front of them.

And the prone body upon it.

* * *

 

Diego shot forward. "No."

He reached the bed first and took the first look at Klaus' face. If not for the situation it could be said he looked at peace, something the fourth Hargreeves sibling had never managed to find. But a closer look took most of that calm mask away. His lips were dried and cracked, with dark blood lining the pink hue. His eyes were sunken and the space around them as dark and bruised as Diego had ever seen. Klaus' cheekbones stuck out and could possibly have cut him from how razor sharp they seemed on his features. And his skin couldn't even be described as pale, it was almost translucent, so thin and marred with a sickening grey. Further down his body his arms were cuffed, with the harsh metal seeming far too large for his wrists but also managing to cut and rub at the skin. It was the same for his ankles which too were red raw and bruised a good few inches either side of where the cuffs laid. A strap lay across his abdomen, holding him down- though what for was a mystery, as it didn't seem like he would be waking up and fighting anytime soon. The bed itself was pitiful, a simple metal frame with rust all over the bars allowing a thin mattress to lay on top, not even filling the space of the base. There was a small pillow beneath Klaus' head but no sheet covering his body in a room that was far too cold. A pulse monitor sat upon his thumb and beeped away in the background, along with a cannula in the back of his right hand that fed some form of liquid straight into his system. An oxygen cannula laid delicately across his face and made him seem even smaller.

"Oh my god." Vanya whispered through tears. It was a jolt to the others who had all fallen into their own thoughts and emotions.

Diego wiped his face as he turned away from Klaus. "We need to get him out. Can anyone safely remove that...thing...from his hand?"

Five nodded but didn't say anything. He inspected the fluid bag and deemed it safe enough to remove. "Looks like it's a high mix of sedatives and tranqs."

"High?" Allison worked her lip between her teeth.

"This is much more than a usual sedative mix. Possibly because his body is used to drugs so they needed more of it. Or because they're just pure bastards."

Vanya had taken a spot next to his head and was gently carding her fingers through his hair. She turned around and quietly asked. "How long has he actually been here?"

Five stopped what he was doing for a minute and pulled the paper from his pocket. "Three days. The date on that video shows he was in hospital for two days. Why?"

"He's really warm and sticky. Do you think...do you think he's still coming down and withdrawing?"

After only a moment of thinking it over, Five nodded. "I don't doubt it. The withdrawal will probably have been slowed down from the other drugs they've pumped him with, including these, so it may be lasting longer than usual."

Luther held his head in his hands. "This is going to be rough as hell for him isn't it? Recovering from the sedatives _and_ his OD."

As they spoke, Diego moved to the cuffs and picked at their locks with some bits he fished from his back pocket. His actions were full of the anger he felt and periodically his hand shook and twitched with grief. Looking past their brother before them, the room stood out a little more. It smelt stale, with sweat and urine and vomit- all rather recent- and it clung to the air, the walls, the 'clothes' garments. The room was large with the single bed almost abandoned in the centre but there was nothing adorning the walls, not even a window. This truly was the bowels of the building and each sibling wondered if their Father knew about this or if he had simply signed his son across to the first available residence. An empty jug of water sat on the floor beside the bed but judging by the glass that sat with it, the water hadn't been exceptionally fresh anyway.

"When we get Klaus sorted, and dad murdered, we need to get this place shut down." Diego mused to whoever listened, and only mildly joked about the patricide.

No-one else spoke for a few minutes as they unhooked Klaus from the machines, removed the needle and unlocked the cuffs (with the actual key that they found on Frank and not with Diego's increasingly trembling hands and outdated lockpick tools). They took the strap from around his abdomen and took away the nasal cannula once they were sure he would be ok without it.

"It's probably just as a precaution anyway, make sure he gets a decent amount of oxygen in. It's not exactly like this room is providing a lot of clean air."

They agreed with Five and began to sit Klaus up, wrapping him in Luther's huge overcoat. It smothered him and made him seem even smaller but they knew that it would be protection and warmth, not to mention it could hide some of the fact their brother had ever gotten to this stage.

With more caution than any of them knew he possessed, Luther scooped Klaus into his arms and gently took him away from this hell. They took the keys from Frank and began to retrace their steps back to the reception area.

"Should we hide our presence? If Dad finds out we've all been here, including Five, won't it give us away?"

"Vanya's right. Allison, can you wake him up and somehow get him to..."

"On it." Number Three walked back toward Frank, waking him up with a simple rumour before moving on to another. "I heard a rumour, you removed any trace of our presence and create a paperwork error for Klaus' early release."

Again, Frank nodded and walked off, his steps just ahead of their own. Once they found themselves back in the waiting room, they saw him begin work on CCTV deletion, and the editing of Klaus' files. Not wanting to waste anymore time in this place they walked back out into the fresh air and toward their car.

Luther hovered near the doors. "Diego? Do you want me to drive? You can sit in the back with Klaus if you want?"

Diego's steps faltered for a moment; behold! Luther, actually thinking what somebody else may want? Putting other's first and actually asking what they want to do rather than ordering them?

"Erm, yeah, yeah that would be great thanks big gu...Luther. Thanks Luther." Diego watched as Five took shotgun and Allison and Vanya slid into the back- that was one annoying difference between Diego's car and their Father's, it was on the much smaller side. "As long as you want to drive? If you want to sit with Klaus I completely understand..."

"No. He's more comfortable with you anyway. If he wakes up or senses one of us with him, I know he'd rather it be you than me."

Diego nodded again and squeezed in next to Allison, settling himself in before Luther slid Klaus' prone body in, lying his head on Diego and his feet on Vanya. The smaller space meant Diego had to pull Klaus up a little so his upper body was leant across his chest, head tucked neatly under Number Two's chin, but it comforted Diego to know that his brother was safe in his arms and he could feel the rise and fall of his chest and any little twitch he may make.  

The ride back to Vanya's apartment was quiet and tense, with the low drawl of the radio breaking up the complete lack of chatter. Every single Hargreeves sibling present was lost in thought, some thinking about Klaus, some about their father, some about the institute they had just left and some about what lay ahead for them. Five in particular was thinking about all the scenarios and what it meant for them all travelling back, particularly his early return. They needed to change things so that Vanya didn't cause the apocalypse, but they needed to make sure that not too much was changed so that it was caused some other way. Reginald still needed to die (and weren't they all looking forward to that day!?) and Vanya still needed to be weaned off her tablets and taught how to control her powers.  But there were other factors that confused Five in his current state of mind, the fact that things happened to their future selves which might be huge turning points in their lives and if they were not to take place, would that effect the timeline just as much!? Hazel and Cha Cha would probably find him earlier, they could even be waiting at Vanya's place right now, and could throw huge spanners in the works. Or The Handler could turn up and re-recruit him, with some huge concocted plan to turn his life around as well as those of his siblings. Ben! Klaus had just conjured Ben and his sobriety was working wonders for him but now that had all changed, would Klaus be able to reunite them with their brother? Would he be able to get clean again? It had seemed like a miracle when Ben had been stood there with them, the seven finally reunited. But now it was all a distant dream once again.

Vanya's apartment appeared in front of them and Five decided he wanted to make sure all was secure before they piled back in. "I'm going to make sure it's all clear up there."

He jumped before anybody could respond, a soft hum left behind in the front seat as Luther pulled to the curb in front of Vanya's building.

As carefully as they could they lifted Klaus out of the car and began to ascend the stairs into the building. Five was waiting with the door open and let them in as they approached.

"You think we could be in for some trouble?" Allison asked as Diego and Vanya laid Klaus down onto the sofa.

Five made an uncertain face. "Possibly. I took my tracker out before I even came here but I'm fairly certain they know about all of your houses. The ones that came after me before, Hazel and Cha Cha, if they survived the apocalypse then there's no doubt they'll be after me again at some point. We have to keep an eye out, stick together, stay safe."

"Would they even have my unregistered apartment?" When Five gave her a confused look, Allison elaborated. "I bought an apartment a while back, just in case I ever needed it to get out of the public eye or away from dad- both were harassing me about the Academy and I didn't want Claire getting caught in the middle as she grew up. I bought it under an entirely different name. Only person who knows about it is me, not even Patrick."  

"They may not. I'm pretty sure they just follow legalised documents. But they're clever, I wouldn't put it past them entirely." Five seemed to think to himself for a moment before nodding. "I'd say it's far safer than here. Once Klaus is a little more stable we could probably move him across. How far out is it?"

"Not far, two hour drive with traffic."

The siblings all fell into tasks after that. Five jumped off to a store to grab clothes big enough to fit Klaus, choosing a simple pair of sweat pants and a bright pink tshirt (he knew he'd complain about them once he was awake, but he wasn't spending $50 on some nice tight jeans they'd have to fight to get onto him; the pink tshirt may not illicit too much complaining though). Allison and Diego washed Klaus' wounds on his wrists and ankles and applied cream and bandages over the top. They also washed his chest which they found to have dried sweat and traces of vomit on, and under his armpits, ready for the clothes Five brought back. It was a simple clean down, rubbing at his feet and neck, using lukewarm water to try and help the fever he was fighting too.

"Do you think he's getting warmer?" Allison worried.

"Maybe. But could also be the fact that _that_ room was like a fridge. His body is just acclimatising to the new heat." Diego wiped at Klaus' forehead, brushing away some of the curls that had clung there. "But we'll keep an eye on it."

Vanya helped make the sofa a little more comfortable and she was glad she had bought such a huge piece all those years ago, one you could really snuggle down into if you didn't want to move to the bed on cold winter nights. She changed the pillowcases on her pillows and brought through a number of blankets to cover both Klaus and the rest of the siblings as they sat or laid around on watch.

Luther kept an eye on the street below, watching for any signs of odd activity. He felt like he couldn't do much else but wanted to feel like he was helping in some way. If there was one thing he was good at, it was fighting off the bad guys, keeping them away from his siblings, or at the very least, giving them a head start to get the hell out of there.

Vanya had perched herself on her coffee table and looked down at Klaus. "He looks dehydrated. How do we get water into him?"

"IV?" Five contributed.

"Oh wait, I have one of those lying around in my kitchen cupboards." Even Vanya was surprised by the friendly sarcasm that laced her words, and she lit up to see her siblings all chuckling or smirking to varying degrees.

"Well he won't be able to swallow anything significant until he's awake but we can drop a little in, rub a wet cloth on his lips. Might help to bring him around too if he can feel it."

Diego stood up as he spoke and retrieved a glass of water and clean cloth from Vanya's kitchenette. When he returned to his position beside his brother he carefully dropped a few splashes into Klaus' mouth as he'd suggested, and wiped a little of the excess liquid around his lips.

"It's just a matter of patience. Klaus is less resistant to drugs because of his...habit...but with his body being so weak it may not be quite as quick a recovery as we'd hoped."

They nodded as Five explained, all eyes fixed on Klaus- on his chest, on his eyes, on his fingers, all the places they'd see the first changes upon his awakening.

"Waiting. Great. We were always good at that." Luther rubbed at his face from the window. "Want to play I spy?"

For once, the groan that escaped the group was lighthearted and jovial.

Allison sighed before saying. "Fine. I'll go first. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with...V."

"Vanya."

"Violin."  Luther and Diego answered simultaneously, both smirking.

"What!? How did you get that so quickly?"

"Oh come on Allison! What else could it have been?"

Allison spluttered at Diego's kind jab. "Pfft, it could have been...vanity case."

Vanya laughed. "We're in my flat Ally, not yours."

Allison threw a small cushion at her sister. "Fine. Your turn Diego."

"I'm not playing this stupid game."

The siblings fell into an easy and familiar routine that took them back to their hourly free time as children, with slightly awkward socialising and effortless gameplay.

Next to them, Klaus laid safe.

* * *

 

The sun had gone down long ago and one by one the Hargreeves siblings had given in to sleep. All except Diego who had forced his eyes to stay open as he held onto Klaus' shaking hand.

A few hours into 'I spy' his form had begun to shake on the sofa, a scared and pained tremble that made them all want to just hold him and stop him from falling apart. He didn't wake up though, so they could not be sure if it was due to a nightmare, pain or just genuine fear- most often than not with Klaus it was all combined. Though the full tremble hadn't lasted long, his hands still shook and Diego had taken to holding one firmly in his own around 3 hours ago. They had had to place cool cloths on his forehead and pressure points for a while too, with his temperature rising a little and scaring the shit out of them all. It hadn't risen too much though and was currently still warm but a little closer to average. As he sat there, Diego wiped Klaus' face with the cloth, removing the fresh sweat that had layered his pale skin. 

The long lashes that lined his eyes fluttered and Diego wasn't sure if he had imagined it, or if it was even his own breath blowing over them. But no, it happened again and this time there was a small slit in the eyelids that allowed a little of those beautiful green iris' to peak out.

Diego shuffled forward a little and allowed his hand to sit atop Klaus' sweaty curls. "Hey." He whispered, quiet and gentle. "Hey buddy. Can you hear me?"

At the sound of his voice, Klaus' eyes seemed to blink open a little more, but Diego could see how clouded and glassy they were, not at all in focus or fully awake. Regardless, his brother's head turned fractionally toward him and his mouth opened a little.

"Ben?" His voice was completely broken and hoarse, most likely a combination of the screaming and lack of decent water. He tried again. "Ben?"

"Ssh. Ssh buddy, just, just sleep, everything's ok." He swept his hand over the curls, comforting both himself and Klaus. Beneath him, Klaus shook again, and small whimpers sat in his throat as his panic grew. He was 'looking' at Diego but didn't see him, his eyes pleading and lost.

"Ben?"

Diego gave up, swallowed the lump in his throat and whispered. "Yeah. It's me Klaus. Go back to sleep."

Klaus smiled. "Ben!" And promptly fell back asleep.

Diego looked around to make sure his siblings were all still asleep and when he saw that they were, he melted into silent sobs, his face pressed into the couch where Klaus' body lay.

In all the years of finding Klaus high and sick in back alleys, he had never seen him so completely naive and fragile.

* * *

 

"Diego you need to sleep." Five stood with his arms crossed, fully in Diego's personal space. Both of them hated personal space, but one of them would break soon, and it wouldn't be Five. "You've been awake for over 12 hours. You said he woke up, so he's getting better. What good are you to him if you're dead on your feet when he finally comes round?"

"He's right Diego. You need to rest." Vanya had taken to dripping water in Klaus' mouth and holding the hand she'd almost pried from Diego's grip. But Number Two hadn't moved from his spot, and he and Vanya awkwardly accommodated one another to be the closest to Klaus. 

As it seemed they would fall into a familiar bickering match, the body on the couch twitched. They all crowded in and hoped that Klaus was more coherent than he had been from Diego's tale. His head fell to the side so it was facing past Vanya's shoulder and toward her fireplace. The green eyes slowly parted and latched onto a space past their own lines of vision.

A small smile split his features. "Ben!" It was quiet and still rough but this time held a hint of happiness.

"Oh god." Diego's head (and heart) dropped as the familiar word left their brother's mouth.

"No. Ben!"

Diego's head shot right back up, and all eyes flitted from one brother to another. "What?"

"Not God. She's not here, thank...her? Ben's here!"

Vanya sat forward a little and kissed Klaus' forehead. "Hey you."

He smiled up at her, his eyes still a little glazed over and his smile still a little dopey but so much closer to their Klaus than it had been earlier. "Hey you." He mimicked.

"How you feeling bro?"

Klaus looked back toward Diego. "Well Ben's back. So that's always good." He trailed off and looked toward where Ben must be stood, looking like he was listening to something he was saying. After a minute he smiled at the empty space, his eyes watering up a little as he swallowed a few times.

"Klaus?" Vanya soothed him.

"Hmm. Yeah. I'm good. Just, Ben says thanks. I mean, he says for me to say thanks too but he could have kissed you all when...earlier."

They all knew what he meant, and the implication that Ben had been by Klaus' side this whole time hit harder than they realised, having to watch their brother go through it all and not being able to do anything about it. They had no idea how long Klaus hadn't been able to see Ben but judging by the amount of drugs in his system for the last week, they bet it was a good few days at least- which for the two brothers, was a lifetime. And Ben had watched as they stormed in like heroes and whisked their damsel in distress off and into the sunset.

Allison laughed to herself suddenly. "Sorry! I was just thinking about us all in superhero capes and Klaus our little damsel."

"I will have you know dear sister, that I would look damn fine in a long, flowing dress."

"And crown! Don't forget the crown." Luther was still perched near the window but made it so Klaus was in his eyesight.

"Obviously!"

The laughter that had bubbled up within the group began to slip away when Klaus showed signs of being in pain just a few moments later. His free hand came up to his chest and his eyes screwed shut.

"Hey? How we doing?" Diego had brought himself up onto the sofa so he now sat near Klaus and he took the hand that sat on his chest in his own. "Talk to us bro."

"I'm fine, it's just...just my body washing all the shit out." He took a few deep breaths. "Not a good mix with whatever those monsters at the institute pumped me with."

"What do you want?" Five was now leant against the fireplace but his hard face seemed softer at the edges.

Klaus shook his head a little but paled even further and stopped. His words came out through gritted teeth. "Dunno. Maybe, maybe some water and fresh air?"

"Yeah, yeah ok we can do that."

"Geez Diego calm down, he's asking for water and air, not a new leg or something." Five shook his head and jumped to the kitchen to get fresh water as Luther unlatched the window and let the breeze flow freely into the room.

They slowly sat him up and got half of a small glass of water down him. He took more deep breaths and the paleness no longer seem quite as apparent.

"Better?" Allison asked.

When Klaus nodded Five sat back down on the table- everybody who noticed his fidgeting and restlessness didn't comment on it. "We think we have somewhere we can go. Somewhere possibly a bit safer than this until we can get everything figured out again. You think you're up to moving?"

None of them really wanted to move him yet, but they were all worrying that the longer they were here, the bigger the chance that anyone after Five would locate them.

"Think so yeah. Just, no sudden movements. And don't think I'm being ignorant if I keep my eyes shut the whole time, the world's spinning enough as it is at the moment without a car journey." Already his voice was growing tired and his eyelids were drooping again. They had to move fast.

"Ok. But if you feel anything or want to stop you damn well tell us alright!?"

Klaus gave a half salute toward Diego. "Yes Sir."

The next half hour was a blur, with most of the siblings gathering blankets and snacks and water for the journey (mainly for Klaus) and Vanya finding her fluffiest pair of slipper socks to cover Klaus' bare feet. She gently pulled them up so they wouldn't rub at his ankles and gave him a soft tickle on the soles, seeing his face light up as he twisted them from her touch.

"Vaaan." He whined.

Luther came back into the apartment after canvassing the street. "Alright. Ready to go?"

Klaus nodded and allowed Luther and Allison to slowly stand him up between them. He swayed dangerously for a second and looked like he would empty the contents of his stomach but closed his eyes, took in another deep breath and put one foot in front of the other. It was mainly Luther and Allison keeping him up but nobody said anything.

As they reached the car, Klaus paused and they all turned, worried. His face was a mask of confusion as he asked, "Erm amigos? What the _hell_ am I wearing?"

"Yeah. He's gonna be absolutely fine." Allison giggled as Klaus nuzzled his face into her hair.

There was so much to discuss, so many conversations to be had between the siblings, wrongs to be righted and apologies made. They had to figure out the future (Reginald was still alive and assumed Luther was still at the Academy), and their 'past/future' and everything about every timeline they had ever touched and it would all be so much to deal with and they would need so much coffee and snacks and alcohol ( _"No Five, you're technically a 13 year old kid, no more margaritas. And no Klaus, water for you!")_ but they would be in it together. No more Hargreeves' left behind.

Commitment.


	2. Fallout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost titled this Chapter 'Epilogue Fail' because it turned into more of a second chapter rather than a little end piece. But, yeah. I hope the shift in POV is forgivable (from general in Ch1 to Klaus' in this) but I needed to add Ben and I wanted to deal with Klaus handling the situation- spoiler, not well! Again, please let me know of any tags to add, I will say there is a fair amount of mentions of vomiting (I'm surprised myself because I have dealt with emetephobia in the past so for me to use it like I did is a step even for me!) and mentions of Klaus' time in 'care'. No beta, all mistakes mine, all rights to owners, etc. Enjoy.

Klaus usually liked car journeys. They would help soothe him or calm him, to such a degree that his siblings had joked a number of times about him being like a baby. And they helped take him away. It was harder for ghosts to follow him if he was constantly on the move and whilst he still saw the dead littering the streets and sidewalks, he could pass them by with a wave or salute- or once even a 'So long suckers!'. But the journey that had taken them from Vanya's to Allison's apartments hadn't been quite as enjoyable for him. The whole time he had alternated between motion sickness, withdrawal and (to him at least) half consciousness. The latter scared his siblings because to them he had been absolutely out of it, dopey and vagrant and not in the usual 'High Klaus' way- _he_ on the other hand, just thought he'd slept half the journey away. Ben told him that he had spoken to them in riddles and tongues, mistaken them for 'the bad men', trying to get away and out of the car. The times when his eyes rolled back into his head were apparently the worst, with them all thinking he was going to seize on them or worse, die. Ben also told him that Allison had had to calm Diego down from hyperventilating when Klaus had passed out at one point, his body sagging in his brother's arms and looking every bit a corpse.

When he had been awake, Klaus had felt the world spin around him and his stomach churn with it. Usually Diego was _'vomit and I'll kill you'_ (one thing he and Luther did have in common) but when Klaus had sat up in his arms and tried to hold the contents of his stomach in until they could find something for him to retch into, Diego had been the one to rub his back and try to distract him long enough for Vanya to find a bag without holes in it. He hadn't a solitary thing in him to begin with other than half a pint of water but he had seemed to clutch onto the bag for ages, his stomach protesting from the strain and acid it'd had to deal with. Allison had supplied water to him between bouts of sickness, gently pouring a few mouthfuls in as his body leant upright on Diego's shoulder, and soothed his drenched hair away from his head as best she could.  Vanya wasn't really close enough to help with anything much so she fell to rubbing his legs up and down in comfort. Klaus' utterly exhausted body and mind then reduced him to sobs and he had known at the time that come a few hours later he would look back in shame. As he'd sat there between hiccups and gags and lost breaths he'd wished another round of sleep would come, just to take him away and make the pain and misery go away. He vaguely remembered being sat upright after another round of sickness and falling to pieces as everything crashed down on top of him; all the memories of where they had left, of his torture and time in Vietnam, of Dave, of dying at the rave and getting sober and bringing Ben back and then all that had happened since. He had had to relive part of one of the worst times of his life (and that was saying something in Klaus' life) but in this version he had been found and rescued and promised to be put back together.

Number Four felt a little selfish, given the fact that is was Vanya who needed the true attention right now and he had been the one just breaking down in the back seat of the car.

He didn't remember them pulling up to their new location because he had been in one of his stupors at the time but his trusty ghost recorder had managed to fill him in. Ben relayed how Luther had had to carry him in because the moment Diego got out of the car his legs had given out under him and Allison and Five had needed to support him up into the flat as Vanya unlocked doors and disposed of Klaus' dirty bags. They had laid him on the huge bed in Allison's bedroom, wiping away the sweat and vomit from his face and making sure he was comfortable. It had been staggered watches from then on, with one sibling staying in the room as the others slept or showered or tried to get on as they should. Plenty of times they had all ended up in the bedroom anyway, with Allison taking the opportunity to paint Klaus' nails and brush his hair and Vanya had apologised to them all and tried to make sense of her situation and Luther had just dropped to the floor and done who knew how many press-ups. Luther had earlier dragged the smaller mattress from a spare room and dumped it on the floor beside the bed in order to make Diego (who would absolutely not leave his brother's side) rest. A few minutes later he had been out like a light and Ben had desperately wanted to sharpie his face (Klaus had giggled at this, until he nearly threw up again). Since then it was the odd sibling keeping watch.

When Klaus had finally woken up it had been Five by his bedside but the lights were low and the curtains drawn shut and the littlest Hargreeves had been fast asleep- he was certain there'd be riots if the others found out. At first Klaus had panicked, being in a strange location with no idea what was going on until it all caught up with him and he panicked even more and had to stifle the harsh breaths that caught in his chest. That had been when Ben swooped in and did what Ben often did best- save Klaus from himself. His brother has soothed him until his breathing was easier and directed him to the glass of water on the little table to his left. He then made sure everything was ok and told him to kick Five if he needed someone but Klaus couldn't face anyone at the time and so he and Ben had fallen into their usual familiarity. It was during that time that Ben had told him everything that had happened, even the bits Klaus didn't need reminding on.

_"Yeah Ben, I remember puking and crying in the back seat, no need to bring that up thanks bud."_

"And that's about it. Vanya was on watch about 2 hours ago and then Five here came in. I'm pretty sure he's been close to dropping for ages anyway, what with jumping us all through time and then doing it again himself. He really is a stubborn old man, what is it with the men in this family!?"

Klaus was half leant up against the cushioned headboard, his head lolling to the side and mind not much clearer than it had been before. "Hey." His voice was slurred and even he knew it. "I'm not a stubborn old man!"

Ben didn't even miss a beat before he threw back, "No. You're just a stubborn man child. I'm not sure which is worse."

Klaus tried to stick his tongue out at his brother but it felt so heavy and there was no strength left within him at all.

This time when Ben spoke, it was much softer. "Hey. You could really do with getting someone you know, you're still in a really bad shape."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Ben gave him a look that spoke volumes. It was the look he would give him when he woke up in the hospital. It was desperation and anguish and worked in varying degrees, alternating between giving Klaus a guilt trip and making him want to throw Ben, along with his pity party, out of the window. But if he was being honest, he really was in a bad way. His head was still full of cotton candy and his body ached but felt numb all at once and his stomach clenched and swirled in some conflicting messed up way. It was like the high of his drugs, but maybe from one of his bad trips where the drugs had been dodgy and weren't agreeing with him. He didn't feel like him and yet he felt himself all too much because everything was bad but even the light-headedness and floaty, vacant feeling wasn't helping him drift away.

The water he had swallowed not minutes before already bubbled in his stomach, forcing it's way back up and he knew it wouldn't be long before he was seeing it again. Finding some vestige of strength, he sat himself up a little more and looked around to see if his siblings had left anything for him to use. But the movement only worked to assist his rolling stomach and he choked as a taste of bile hit his throat. Luckily Diego, who had still been flat out beside the bed, must have heard the noise because within a few seconds the mattress dipped down next to Klaus and a bucket was placed in his lap.

"I got you bro. Just let it out."

Klaus wasted no time at all and didn't even get a chance to take a breath before he was bent double over the bucket. His mouth tasted awful and his throat and stomach burned once more. He was really getting fed up of this!

He could just about hear Diego talking but the thumping in his head and the whistling in his ears drowned a lot of it out. He couldn't stop and there was no time to breath between retches and he knew he was making some sort of terrifying gasping sound as his insides were burnt and torn.

There was a cacophony of noise around him and movement and he didn't know what was happening only that there were far more people around him now and they were all panicking and fussing. He hated it, he hated it all and when the need to vomit dissipated a little he let his head fall forward.

Looking into the bucket (ew! he wished he had the strength to move it back up because, ew!) he saw the possible reason why there was panic.

"You guys. I's fine." He slurred.

"Fine!? Klaus, you're bringing up blood!" Allison was holding a damp cloth to the back of his neck and it felt like heaven., but he could feel her hand trembling as she held it there.

Ben managed to warn him against shaking his head a second before he was about to- angel!- and so he flicked his hand in an unflustered manner. "I've done it 'fore. I's just...it's just from over..." He made the action with his hand rather than saying it out loud.

"I've read about that." Five piped up from somewhere, obviously now awake. "Sometimes if there's too much strain on a person's oesophagus, it can tear. Hence the blood."

Vanya seemed a little cautious when she spoke. "I guess, I guess it's not like it's a lot. Just a few blobs."

Oh god. This was another reason he continually stayed high, he didn't have to deal with this kind of misery, and _especially_ getting clean around other people. "Can we stop disc'sing my..." Yeah, he had to stop again as another wave swept through him, though this one passed relatively quickly, without any loss of contents and he gave a small 'whoop' when he could breath again.

He managed to lift his head a little but only found the eyes of Ben who had knelt down so he could see Klaus' drooped form. He smiled at the empty space, his eyes heavy and his body tingling.

"Tell them." Ben said, nodding to the group.

Klaus frowned, muttering, "You tell them!"

"Tell us what? Come on Klaus, no secret sharing with Ben." Diego was still behind him, maybe no longer holding the bucket but hovering on the mattress, probably holding _him_ up.

He sighed, or at least tried to but it came out as more of an exhausted breath. "That I'm really not doing too good."

"Durr." Five and Luther said together.

"Screw you." Again, he was slurring and his world was fogging around him. It was a possibility that he was swaying on the spot. "Erm...yeah, passing out now."

As the world fell away around him, he sensed the bucket taken from his lap and four arms behind him lower him gently onto the bed. The softness of the pillows and the warmth of a blanket and the blessing of a kiss on his warm forehead were the last things he felt.

* * *

 

"You keep scaring the crap out of us bro."

Diego was sat next to him on the _huge_ bed and Klaus was pretty sure that all 7 siblings could sleep on this at once if they tried. But currently it was just his knife wielding brother who had leant himself up on Klaus' right side and had been since he woke up about an hour ago- the longest he had been awake since they had rescued him. They hadn't spoken much in that time, only little questions to make sure Klaus was doing ok and the odd jibe from the séance to let his brother know how annoyingly sweet he was being. Klaus had had a little conversation with Ben too but only another mini recap of his time out cold. So when Diego spoke up, in a voice that didn't feel it should be coming from the hard hearted vigilante, Klaus was a little shocked.

"Erm...sorry?"

Diego scoffed. "Sorry? You have nothing to be sorry for it's just, god, you keep going catatonic or emptying your guts until there's blood and it's horrifying to watch."

"I'm," _Don't say 'used to it', don't say 'used to it',_ "used to it."

_Shit._

"And that's not worrying in itself!"

"Look, I'm sorry it upsets you all Diego but it's fucking true. I've done this for years. I'm a junkie remember, the life of a junkie consists of lots of illness and weakness and just all around misery. Not only that but the constant barrage of ghosts puts a dampener on things. I've spent so much of my life in the gutter, even when I had a roof over my head, and I've managed without anyone's intervention before so it's literally only new and 'terrifying' for you guys."

Silence. "So it's not terrifying for you?" Klaus didn't respond but Diego just grew in vehemence. "Because I know you have all these walls and facades you hide behind but I saw your face ok, I saw it when they were dragging you out of that hospital and when you woke up for the first time or all the times after and you still thought you were there. And I saw you break down when you just wanted the pain to stop and you begged us to help you pass out again- which you probably don't remember by the way because you were so out of it- and I felt you gripping onto me and you cannot tell me there is not a small part of you that was and is still a scared fucking child because I may not know you as well as I want or hoped I did but I know when a person has been through hell. And yes. We may have only seen it for the first time today but we already want it to be the last and it just brought home the fact that we are all complete fucking screw ups!"

His body sat up and he threw a knife (where the _hell_ did that come from!?) straight at the wall opposite in a fit of pure rage. Klaus was now looking at Diego's back as he breathed heavily in and out, his head bowed down in shame or defeat. He held out a hand, wanting so desperately to rub comforting circles on his brother's back, but fell short from his prone position and ended up just tapping Diego's lower left like a child patting a dog for the first time- heavy and awkward. At the touch, his brother turned slightly, catching his eye and trying to return Klaus' smile. They didn't say anything but for once it didn't feel awkward and after a few minutes Diego lowered himself back down until he was closer to Klaus' position.

"Mm comfy, intimate."

Diego was bolt upright again in an instant. "Ruined it."

"Aw come on D, you know I was only joking." He was, he really was, but he found himself craving their touches now. Whether it was having to relive his time of being alone, of having just his mind and ghosts being his only companionship, or some strange sense of addiction to the sudden touches and familial contact he had gotten in the last few hours, but he found himself reaching out for the warmth of a sibling's thigh, or the touch of their rising and falling chests. He liked that Diego was laid next to him, that he could feel the material of his trouser leg rubbing against his own lower calf as it bounced with nervous energy. Klaus' hand found Diego's and squeezed.

"You ok?" His brother's voice had lost all its anger from the previous outburst. Now it was a whisper.

Klaus nodded but dislodged a few tears as he did.

"Liar." Ben's voice came from behind him. In reply he hissed over his shoulder and elicited chuckles from both of his siblings.

"Ben?" Diego asked.

"Yeah."

"What's he saying?"

As Klaus opened his mouth to send some sarcastic reply back, Ben butted in. "Just tell him. Klaus, he's seen you at your lowest, it's only up from here."

Klaus looked at the sheets beneath him in shame, his eyelids fluttering as he tried to compose himself. In the end, he was half mumbling to the striped material rather than Diego.  "I'm tired D. I feel like I'm going to burst again but I haven't the energy and I'm so sick of crying. It's like everything's been ripped out of me and I'm empty and I don't know what to do. I don't know if I want to think about tomorrow or next week or anything after because I don't know how to make it through today. I hold onto you, or Allison squeezes me or Vanya rubs my legs and I crave it and it's something I've never had and I love it and I want more but I don't want to get used to it because it won't stay, things never stay good." A pause. "And why would I deserve 'good' anyway?"

Diego didn't say anything; he didn't cry and he didn't get angry again. Instead he gave a firm squeeze back to the hand held in his.

Klaus had royally fucked up. He'd opened up and Diego had shut down. He'd broken him just as he had broken himself. They didn't say anything and even though Diego didn't exactly pull away, Klaus could feel his weight shift and his touch falter.

"Give him time. He's got a lot to process." Ben whispered from beside him and all Klaus could do was stare into his eyes, so full of hope and promise, because if there was anyone going to keep him from falling into the pit completely, it was Ben. Knowing he was hidden from Diego's view as he looked at his dead brother, he let tears slip from his eyes and puddle on the bed beside him. His chin wobbled and his heart stuttered and took the breath from his throat.

It must have been an age before anything else happened, at least that's what it felt like to Klaus. He had closed his eyes and tried to fight off the memories that assaulted his mind when a stutter came from his right. "I..I l-l-l-love. You."

Klaus just let the memories take hold because it couldn't have been right, and even if it was, he wouldn't know how to respond.

And then, more firmly. "I love you brother. And you deserve all the good in the world."

The floodgates broke and he found some reserve of energy to turn over and curl into Diego's side and cry. The warmth was like a beacon and he latched onto it as he felt Diego's arms latch onto _him._

As the tears passed neither brother moved but kept a firm hold on the other. Klaus could see Ben from the corner of his eye, now perched on the bottom of the bed near their feet. He was nodding to Klaus with his own teary eyed look and god did Klaus wish he could manifest him and hold him and never let go.

They were laid in a comfortable silence when Diego swallowed and Klaus knew something else was coming. "I was terrified you know?"

Klaus just looked up slightly.

"When we watched the video tape of them taking you away. I watched you struggle and I heard you yelling and fighting and I wanted to pull them away and just make sure you were safe. I never knew how much it would kill me to see that, to feel utter helplessness. You cried out and I went cold. And then when we found you in that room, I saw you and I thought you were dead, that we'd failed you, that _I'd_ failed you. And all the time since I've been here and I've not wanted to let you out of my sight and I've not wanted to feel the loss of you next to me because if I see you there and feel your, frankly, freezing skin then I know you're still here and we got you out. And it's ok to feel scared Klaus, it's ok to fall down and need lifting back up and you don't need to do it alone anymore. But you need to talk to us. We don't see everything like Ben does, and sometimes we're stupid," Klaus snorted and Diego gave him an affectionate hit. "So you need to talk to us and tell us when you need a hand to hold or, damn it, even tying up! But you let us know. I'm pretty sure that one thing this whole apocalypse episode has taught us is that this whole family needs to open up more. We need to be a family and not just a haphazardly assembled team.

"Academy Assemble!" Klaus whispered, but was able to put some heart behind it and a light chuckle.

Diego laughed too, but more of a _'Did I really just hear that?'_ way. He sobered up pretty quickly though to ask. "So, this happened? For real the first time? And you, what? Stayed there the entire time, alone, in that room and drugged up? Did Hargreeves ever come for you?"

Klaus understood that his brother was catching up and wanted to learn so he could move forward and help but this whole talking about the bad stuff wasn't really helping the mood. Regardless, Klaus carried on projecting like Ben wanted him to do and answered as truthfully as he dared. "Yeah. Obviously I don't remember a lot. I was knocked out for a good few days I think, when I woke up a lot of the bad street stuff was out of my system but the sedatives were still there. Worst thing was...I couldn't see Ben. He wasn't there even through the shitty drugs they'd used and that's saying something because I always see Ben. Even though I know he's dead, I never feel alone with him around, y'know!? I don't think I could have survived as long as I did without him."

Klaus stopped then, finding his dead brother's eyes and latching on. An hour without Ben felt like a week and remembering that time only made him want to take every inch of Ben's features and body and commit them to memory. He remembered lying on the bed, his limbs cuffed to the metal and screaming out his brother's name. The nurses had come in and knocked him out again, only for him to repeat it 2 hours later. And again. And again. A day or two passed and they just left him to scream himself sick. "After that, they stopped pumping me with shit, just left me to it. Thing is then, the ghosts came to play. The doc's kept assessing me and noted down how I needed longer due to my 'episodes' and for my wellbeing. I lost track of time after that, they walked me outside like a dog every now and then, made me eat when they realised I wasn't. I got moved to a slightly better room and Ben told me to behave because he knew how they wanted me to act, and what they were looking out for. He told me that at one point, my 'extended 28 days' was reduced to 21 on good behaviour and noticeable improvement so as much as I secretly fought the ghosts and another breakdown, I played up for _them_ and my 21 went down to 14. At the end of it, good ol' Reggie met me at reception. He gave me the old telling off and warning and bundled me back in the car. Thought I'd wind up back at the Academy but he stopped the car on a corner in town and told me that the next time I was picked up, I'd have to suffer the consequences or bail myself out." He stopped, shame of what he was about to say next making him colour up. "I was back on drugs 1 hour later. And 5 hours after that I had completely forgotten I was fresh out of hell."

Beside him, he could feel Diego's heartbeat thumping, rising in tempo as his breathing grew heavier again. The hand that was holding Klaus' own tensed, growing tighter and tighter.

"Ow. Bro! Bro, I need that hand to wank." It was stupid but Klaus felt that his usual banter would snap Diego out of whatever mess he was getting into, and it felt more familiar to them.

Diego pulled away rather exaggeratedly. "Ew gross!" A second, and then. "I thought you were left handed?"

"Ambidextrous when it comes to that sort of thing. Least I took away something from that particular lesson Daddy made us learn!"

"You're disgusting." Surprisingly to both of them- though maybe not to Ben- Diego's hand came back and slotted right back into Klaus' and clasped down once more. "I want him dead. I want him to suffer and realise that we fell apart because he..."

"He screwed us over. He's the fuck up, not you, not Luther, not Ally. Not any of them! You said that earlier, you said about you all realising how messed up we were and you're right. But I need you to know that, for me at least, most of my shit happened because of him. And how were we meant to become loving siblings when we had his guidance. We weren't a family D, we were a bunch of kids thrown together and expected to make it."

His brother hummed. "When did you become a wise old owl?"

Klaus gasped in delight and sat up a little. "Did you know! A group of owls is called a Parliament, which comes from C.S. Lewis using it in one of his Narnia movies!?"

"Books." Diego and Ben corrected together.

"How do you know that?" Diego then asked.

"You remember me telling you that?" Ben said a second after, clear emotion in his voice.

Klaus shrugged. "Ben told me once. He was trying to distract me and became Encyclopedia Britannica."

A knock at the door turned all of their attention back to the present. Vanya stuck her head inside. "Hey."

As Vanya looked to Klaus her face softened even more and she came fully into the room, followed by the remaining Hargreeves' siblings. One by one they got themselves comfortable, some on the bed, some in the rather plush chairs dotted around the room, but all within a reasonable distance to Klaus.

"How you feeling sweet face?" Ally brushed a curl from his eye. He was still perched on an elbow but could feel himself starting to shake a little from the strain.

"Sweet face? Not heard that in a long time Al." Klaus' voice was soft and distant but his smile was genuine, as was the warmth in his chest. "I'll be good if someone can prop me up and Five hands me that glass of orange he's so kindly brought for me."

Said brother stuttered and stammered a little, looking put out. "But this is my...oh fine." And so once Luther and Diego had helped Klaus sit upright with his back on the headboard, pillows behind him and to the sides, Five almost shoved the glass in his hands. The juice was refreshing and tasted like nectar though there was a slight sting from his damaged insides but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He closed his eyes and lapped up the warmth he felt. Diego's leg was right beside his again and Allison had propped herself at the edge of the bed and had her arm around his neck, stroking his hair softly.

He still felt bad that all of the attention had switched from Vanya, and that needed to be addressed and fixed tomorrow but for now, he drank the last of Five's orange juice and got comfy.

"When I wake up next, I expect another nail painting session and movie night. Vanya gets to pick the movie and what we eat. Oh and can somebody please get me a toothbrush ready because my mouth tastes like Luther's ass died in it."

There were sniggers around the room and a quiet 'thanks' from Vanya. Ben fit himself into a space near Klaus and winked at him.

They had to deal with Reginald and the timeline, but that could wait a few more days. And then...

Then, they would kick both into eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thank you to all who have already left feedback and any who do so, it means a lot. I know this was basically just pure Klaus whump but I can't help it.   
> Thank you again for reading and I hope some of you enjoyed it. Take care lovely people. x

**Author's Note:**

> I hate that I took attention away from Vanya and the whole 'the apocalypse was 10 seconds ago' focus but yeah this was basically just Klaus whump and nothing else. You can probably tell I've made US travelling info and medical info up (with some research) as I have little knowledge in both.   
> I've also started a little epilogue just to include A) a bit more talk about the whole situation and B) BEN! Because I hate when I can't include our favourite ghost if it's not in Klaus' perspective. That should be out in the next few days (maybe even tomorrow) and will include more Klaus H/C. I'm sorry I talk so much b/s in the notes but I've always been apologetic and this is a bit weaker work for me- not that any of my stuff is brilliant.   
> But thank you so much for reading and for any kudos/comments left (don't like, get lost, there's an 'X' for a reason.)


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